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Top Asian News 1:56 p.m. GMT

Associated Press

US Navy plane with 11 aboard crashes into Pacific; 8 rescued

TOKYO (AP) — Eight people were rescued and three remained missing after a U.S. Navy plane crashed into the western Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, the Navy said. The C-2 "Greyhound" transport aircraft came down about 500 nautical miles (925 kilometers) southeast of Okinawa as it was bringing passengers and cargo from Japan to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, the Navy said in a statement. The Reagan was operating in the Philippine Sea during a joint exercise with Japan'sMaritime Self-Defense Force when the twin-propeller plane crashed at 2:45 p.m.Japan time. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear and the incident will be investigated, the Navy said.

Trump: Prayers in order for 'all involved' in Navy crash

Palm Beach, Fla. (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump has been briefed on the Navy aircraft mishap in the Pacific Ocean. Trump said in a tweet: "We are monitoring the situation. Prayers for all involved." White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters provided no additional details or comment on the incident. The U.S. Navy said that eight of the 11 people who were on the plane that crashed while on the way to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier have been rescued and are in good condition. The search continues for three missing personnel. Their C-2 "Greyhound" transport plane crashed while on its way to the carrier on Wednesday in the Philippine Sea.

Cold War drama caught on video as N. Korean soldier escapes

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — It's 3:11 p.m. on a cold, gray day on the North Korean side of the most heavily armed border in the world, and a lone soldier is racing toward freedom. His dark olive-green jeep speeds down a straight, tree-lined road, past drab, barren fields and, headlights shining, across the replacement for the Bridge of No Return, which was used for prisoner exchanges during the Korean War. The shock of soldiers watching the jeep rush by is palpable from the video released Wednesday, and no wonder: They're beginning to realize that one of their comrades is defecting to the South.

N. Korea criticizes US over designation as terror sponsor

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Wednesday called U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to relist it as a state sponsor of terrorism a "serious provocation" that justifies its development of nuclear weapons. In the country's first public response to its return to the American blacklist, the official Korean Central News Agency said North Korea has no connection to terrorism and does not care "whether the U.S. puts a cap of 'terrorism' on us or not." It said the U.S. action shows North Korea should continue to "keep the treasured nuclear sword in our hands more tightly" to protect itself from American hostility.

New US sanctions target North Korean, Chinese companies

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration imposed new sanctions on a slew of North Korean shipping firms and Chinese trading companies in its latest push to isolate the rogue nation over its nuclear weapons development and deprive it of revenue. The Treasury Department also designated a North Korean corporation involved in exporting workers overseas. The action Tuesday came a day after the United States returned North Korea to its list of state sponsors of terrorism. "These designations include companies that have engaged in trade with North Korea cumulatively worth hundreds of millions of dollars," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

China widens personality cult around 'unrivaled helmsman' Xi

BEIJING (AP) — The village where he labored as a teen has become a shrine, a tree he planted an icon. State media applaud him endlessly, private businessmen praise his speeches and universities are devoting new departments to his theories. At the start of his second five-year term as leader of China's ruling Communist Party, Xi Jinping is at the center of China's most colorful efforts to build a cult of personality since the death of the founder of the People's Republic, Mao Zedong, in 1976. Efforts range from the trivial to the borderline hysterical, such as when state broadcaster China Central Television led its evening national news bulletin Friday with more than four minutes of uninterrupted clapping for Xi as he met with adoring citizens.

Pope to meet with Myanmar military chief and Rohingya

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has added in a private meeting with Myanmar's military chief during his upcoming trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh — an indication that the Vatican views the crackdown on Rohingya Muslims as a military operation distinct from the will of the civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The Vatican also confirmed Wednesday that Francis would meet with Rohingya Muslims during an interreligious peace meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Dec. 1. Myanmar's Catholic leaders have urged Francis against using the term "Rohingya," calling it "political" and "contested." The Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, declined to say if Francis would heed that advice during his visit, which begins when he arrives Monday in Yangon.

China criticizes unilateral action after NK sanctions

BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday criticized "unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction" by other governments after Washington penalized Chinese companies accused of trading with North Korea. Beijing is "fully implementing" U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed over the North's pursuit of nuclear and missile technology, said a foreign ministry spokesman, Lu Kang. He said China would cooperate with governments that have "solid evidence." "In principle, we oppose unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction," said Lu at a regular news briefing. "The United States is always clear about China's position." Lu gave no indication whether Beijing might take action in response. China is North Korea's main source of trade, energy and aid, making its cooperation essential to enforcing sanctions aimed at compelling Pyongyang to stop nuclear and missile development.

S.Korea foreign minister in Beijing in effort to repair ties

BEIJING (AP) — The foreign ministers of South Korea and China on Wednesday affirmed their commitment to repair strained relations ahead of a visit by South Korean President Moon Jae-in to Beijing next month and amid ongoing concerns over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The talks between Kang Kyung-wha, the South Korean diplomat, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing came shortly after a Chinese special envoy wrapped up a visit to North Korea, which China is attempting to convince to return to nuclear disarmament talks. China's relations with South Korea soured last year over the deployment of a U.S.

Trump calls father of freed UCLA player an 'ungrateful fool'

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump started off his first day of Thanksgiving vacation Wednesday by resuming his taunts of the father of a UCLA basketball player detained for shoplifting in China, calling him an "ungrateful fool." In a series of tweets fired off before dawn, the president complained yet again that LaVar Ball, father of LiAngelo Ball, hasn't given him credit for the release of his son and two other UCLA basketball players after they were accused of shoplifting while in China for a basketball game. Tweeting from his Florida vacation home, Trump said: "It wasn't the White House, it wasn't the State Department, it wasn't father LaVar's so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence - IT WAS ME." "Too bad!